All Those Yesterdays
by SumerianScribe
Summary: A thousand little things coming together to form something resembling happiness. — Phoenix/Maya.


_Phoenix and Maya. 64 prompts. Ranging from friendship to romance to ambiguous. ENJOY._

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**ALL THOSE YESTERDAYS**

**1. 2 a.m.**

He was now familiar with the process of going out to the nearby burger restaurant to get his assistant a small midnight snack _("Mr. Wright, do you really need three large cheeseburgers at two in the morning?" "You have no idea."_)

**2. metaphor**

Maya once found the notebook that Ema Skye had left behind at the office, and grew extremely worried when reading the words, "Attorney Wright gets bitten by snake." (_"Niiiiiick!"_)

**3. sky**

Sometimes they go outside and spend an afternoon watching the clouds, forgetting for a little while about murder cases and clans of spirit mediums (_"That one looks like the Steel Samurai!" "No, it doesn't, it looks like Larry's hair."_)

**4. lost scene**

"Nick... what did you do with my limited edition Nickel Samurai season one box set?!"

**5. degrees**

He could never get used to a perplexing phenomenon like Maya, not even after three years, and he could only stare at her in bemusement—and amusement—as she tried to measure the temperature outside with a protractor (_"Nick, is this in Celsius or Fahrenheit?"_)

**6.** **seize the day**

Phoenix has never been a morning person and for some reason, ever since he developed a habit of sleeping in the office, he's become a lot crankier with his clients. (_"Up, up, bright and early!" "Ung... Maya..."_)

**7.** **opposite**

Franziska von Karma finds it confounding how the lawyer and spirit medium duo not only put up with one another, but seem to even enjoy each other's company (_"Hmph. Pure foolishness." "Maybe one day you'll understand, Franziska."_)

**8.** **passions run**

Maya panted with exertion, her chest heaving and her cheeks red, her tongue practically lolling out of her mouth as the Steel Samurai season premiere began playing on their small TV (_"Maya, aren't you just a little too old for this?"_)

**9. connection**

The ex-attorney nearly shed a tear at the package he found in the mail, a lump forming in his throat not from the stack of samurai DVDs but at the familiar messy scrawl of the note attached (_'I never wanted to say goodbye –Maya'_)

**10. lull and storm**

She doesn't recall ever having a single real fight with Nick—and panic sets in when she pounds against his office door but he still refuses to answer (_"Nick, I forgot my keys again! Open up! ...Nick?"_)

**11. animal**

"Maya... Don't tell me you stole the circus monkey?"

**12. children**

Phoenix's hand in hers, Maya smiles as she watches the blue-clad teenage magician bounce excitedly around the cluttered office (_"Hey, does this mean you'll be my new mommy?" "I hope so, Trucy."_)

**13. we all float on**

It was a long seven years, but even as his face almost began to fade from her memory and as the excitable sidekick part of her all but locked itself away, the Master of Kurain didn't hesitate when the day came for her to at last deliver those Steel Samurai DVDs in person.

**14. chess**

"I win, Nick!" "Maya, my PAWN just captured your QUEEN." "Yeah, but I have more horses than you, and they're the best pieces! ...Right?" "Sure, Maya."

**15. duty**

He knew she wasn't going to put her own needs before those of her long-suffering village and he relied on that part of her personality to keep her away from him until his name was cleared—sometimes, though, he wished she were just a little more selfish.

**16. rip**

"Nick...?" she said sheepishly. "How much does each one of your suits cost...?" The lawyer had to suppress a sigh.

**17. missing time**

The spirit medium grinned when she saw him trudge back into the room with grease smeared all over his hands and a disgruntled expression on his face (_"Toldja you didn't know how to fix that broken clock!" "Way to kick me while I'm down, Maya."_)

**18. crest**

"Hey, Nick! What d'you think of this?" "Huh? Is that a mushroom?" "It's a SPIRIT. Don't you think it's a great idea for me to draw Kurain a family crest, Nick?" "Just brilliant, Maya."

**19. itch**

"No, Maya, we're not buying Scandinavian itching powder."

**20. explode**

The action movie they had rented that evening was especially predictable and full of flaming explosions—Maya began to nod off at about midnight and her eyes were just closing as the muscular hero saved the female lead from a raging fire. (_"Mm... I hope you'd do the same for me, Nick." "I pretty much already have."_)

**21. rise**

"Mr. Nick, look how tired Mystic Maya is! You should carry her on your back just like her steed in shining armour!" "...Why did I agree to go hiking uphill with you two again?"

**22. crumble**

Their wooden chopsticks at first clattered against each other in their battle for lunch, but silence fell as both hungry warriors watched in horror as the last piece of sushi crumbled into a fishy mess before their very eyes (_"I told you, I called dibs!" "You already ate seventy percent of the rest of our food!"_)

**23. range**

Kurain Village really wasn't that far away, but Maya made it sound like it was located at the edge of the universe—sometimes Phoenix wondered if Maya simply didn't want him to visit, but all doubts were thankfully lifted by the appearance of one Turner Grey.

**24. fight/flight**

"Hey, Nick, if a bear attacked you, would you try to fight it or run away with your tail between your legs?" "...What kind of question is that?!"

**25. acid**

"The prosecution proposes that the defendant was... er, dropping acid, as they say." "Nick, what's that mean?" "Um, I'll tell you later, Maya."

**26. color**

"Hey, Maya, which suit should I wear today—the navy or the cobalt?" "Nick, that's just BLUE." "Okay... which tie, then—the cerise or pale maroon?" "..."

**27. give**

"We can't say goodbye now, Nick... You've helped me so much and all I've ever repaid you with is more trouble.."

**28. needle**

"_Aaaaaaaaagh!_" "I can't believe I had to hold your hand while you got your flu shot, Nick."

**29. locks**

He brushed back her raven hair, smiling wider than he ever remembered doing, and her breath tickled his ear as she said contentedly, "I can't believe it's all over... We don't have anything left to hide, do we, Nick?"

**30. slope**

Sometimes keeping Maya out of trouble made him feel like he was fighting against gravity.

**31. correspondence**

"_Dear, Maya..."_ His messages to her were crammed in a large envelope he kept under his bed, along with all the other letters he had written over the past seven years that he never dared to send.

**32. linger**

During the many quiet moments in the lonely years following his disbarment, sometimes he thought he heard shadows of her laughter when he watered Charley or ordered a hamburger.

**33. charm**

Phoenix Wright, former ace attorney, didn't often take his hands out of his hoodie pockets—Trucy's sharp senses knew, however, when the muscles of his right arm tensed as he tightened his fingers around _something_ that he was always clutching.

**34. roads**

He didn't need a car, so long as Maya was the one walking next to him.

**35. hunger**

He had just one word to describe her appetite—_insatiable._

**36. reciprocity**

He'll do the dishes tonight while she eats the food; he'll clean the toilet while she keeps him company; and he'll fix that leaky showerhead while she searches for a waterfall in the area. (_"Why did I let Maya divvy up the chores?"_)

**37. kind**

It's Maya that finds many of Phoenix's clients, but he can never bring himself to turn any of them down; it's his job to help the ones with no one on their side, after all—he only wishes that the clients Maya finds were in a better position to pay him.

**38. fruity**

He had never noticed before, but Maya carried a faint fragrance of citrus and strawberries and peaches all at once; he found himself leaning into her hair. (_"Do you wear perfume?" "Nope. Why do you ask, Nick?" "No reason."_)

**39. half-life**

"Hey, Nick, what's a half-life?" "Oh, it's the average time needed for half the..." "It says here it's an old shooter game!" "...Maya? Since when did you know how to use a computer?"

**40. comedy of errors**

Maya strutted into the office one day with a peculiar, shining badge pinned to her yukata—later he found out she 'borrowed' it from Edgeworth—and declared herself a prosecutor. (_"Maya, if you're a prosecutor, then I'm a bright blue hedgehog." "Thinking about it...That's actually not too much of a stretch, Nick."_)

**41. tragedy**

Miles Edgeworth observed his friends from a very objective point of view and he found himself realizing the irony in Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey—to think that such a lighthearted and entertaining relationship began with murder and a shared tragedy.

**42. hope is the thing with feathers**

Sometimes he found himself grinning into his pillow as he closed his eyes for sleep—especially when he inhaled the familiar fruity scent that lingered in the fibers of his pillowcase.

**43. empire**

"Think about it, Nick—a chain of burger joints, headed by me! Maybe I'd even let you be a busboy."

**44. turpentine kisses and mistaken blows**

Maya's jaw dropped at the sight of her friend staring unseeingly at the television screen. "Nick, WHAT are you WATCHING?"

**45. rings**

"I'll admit, I never thought this moment would come so soon... And there's no graceful way to do this, at least not for me. This is the nicest one I could find. And... just... take it, okay, Nick?" Tears gathered at the corners of Maya's eyes—Phoenix didn't understand why it was so hard for Maya to give up the last onion ring.

**46. dust**

The two of them had only hugged a handful of times, in spite of their emotional intimacy—he could nearly hear his arms creak as he hesitantly wrapped them around her petite body, almost, _almost _forgetting how to smile at her and how to banter; he had seven years' worth of dust to blow off of his memories.

**47. every you, every me**

Maybe there was another pair out there, another wide-eyed defence attorney and another hyperactive young woman that wanted to help him as much as she could, another pair that bickered at murder scenes and made fun of detectives behind their back—but that wasn't _them _anymore, that was just a pair of strangers from a different life.

**48. project**

"You know, Nick, you've got the loud _Objection! _nailed, but I think you need to work on your courtroom poses." "...Huh?"

**49. adore**

"I'm sorry, Maya, but you're going to have to choose." "Nick, you aren't serious..." "Do you choose me? ...Or do you choose _that?_" "...I choose the burger."

**50. murmur**

She leaned her forehead against his shoulder for one brief moment. "...I'll be back soon." (_"...Okay. I'll be waiting."_)

**51. above**

As the ladder ("Stepladder," Phoenix insisted) teetered ominously, the attorney only had time to turn around as he heard her scream before she landed on top of him. (_"Ow... Your hair hurts, Nick."_)

**52. below**

Apollo shushed his snickering half-sister as they peeked at the couple from behind the red couch at the office; both the siblings' eyes were wide. (_"When do you think Daddy will stop making out with her to make dinner?" "Maybe we should just order takeout, Trucy."_)

**53. incalculable**

"Hey, Nick...? What's seven dollars and thirteen cents multiplied by four?" "Can't you do it yourself?" "I'm not good at long division." "That's not—_*sigh* _Just use a calculator." "I'm not good at advanced computing either." "..."

**54. wire**

There was one instance when Phoenix freaked out at a large area of exposed wire in a wall of the office and, afraid that Maya would electrocute herself, he covered it with duct tape with a sudden manic energy, only to find his assistant staring at him like he was insane—he felt like a moron, but it was sometimes easy to forget that Maya wasn't a little kid. (_"I was, uh, doing it for the sake of Pearls." "Whatever you say, old man."_)

**55. landslide**

Sometimes they liked to cycle around the city together; the sun was warm against his skin as his bike tire skidded across the sidewalk before collapsing to the ground, bringing the lawyer with it—and maybe it would have been okay if Maya hadn't tripped over his splayed-out body with her own bicycle five seconds later. (_"Ever think about just getting a driver's license, Nick?" "At times like this, yes."_)

**56. the beginning is the end is the beginning**

His heart skipped a beat as her train pulled into the station—how many times had he waited for her here, at this spot?—and seven years suddenly seemed like a gap that was very easy to bridge.

**57. door**

He remembered her waiting outside the office door when he wouldn't pick up his phone, remembered her insistent yelling and as her voice grew increasingly confused and fearful when he continued to answer her with only a cold silence.

**58. enemy gate**

She told herself he was out shopping for groceries or something—but she was somehow sure of his presence inside that office (_their _office!) and something in the pit of her stomach twisted up because it was like he was waiting for her to go away.

**59. stone**

Seven years later, the young woman looked positively radiant as her feet met the hard ground of the station; a soft joy flooded the former attorney's face, not at all like the stony indifference that had twisted his features the day he tried to push her away.

**60. bright**

Apollo didn't know much about love but he thought that maybe this jaded pianist and oddly dressed woman at the train station were a pretty good testament to the whole emotion—if the light in their eyes was any indication.

**61. stories**

Trucy recalled asking for bedtime stories about Phoenix's lawyer days—he had told her exciting tales of a heroic attorney in shining armour who rescued a spunky but beautiful princess that had saved the brave lawyer plenty of times too; Trucy immediately decided she liked Maya.

**62. chime**

"_Nick, do you think you could...?" "Nick, let's go and..." "Thanks... Nick."_ Her voice used to keep him grounded; once it became absent, his memory of it brought broken smiles to his face.

**63. laugh**

One million yesterdays together—and laughter warmed all of them, whenever they weren't crying.

**64. hold**

He finally let go of the Magatama to take her familiar hand, and the grin seemed to enter her lips so easily. (_"Hi, Nick. Didja miss me?" "You have no idea."_)

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_I wrote this almost a week ago, on a whim. It was a lot of fun. Prompts from Livejournal's 64damn-prompts._

_As you can see, most of these are kind of disconnected from each other so sometimes I switched to present tense because it just fit better. Also, these are obviously not in chronological order. I'm not the biggest Narumayo shipper, but I am in love with their friendship and I kind of like the idea of them as a romantic pairing too._

_Cover image is a fan art on Pixiv by 横野しま＠4～8月超多忙_


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